An Unexpected Meeting
by Fizz the Great
Summary: Lupin goes to visit Harry on his sixth birthday but is interrupted by a person whom he thought was dead 10 years ago.
1. An Unexpected Meeting

Remus Lupin was about to go meet Harry. It was supposed to be Harry's sixth birthday today and Lupin planned to go see him after finally locating where he lived. He walked down Privet Drive, taking note of the house numbers. 1…2….3… He stopped at the matching number written in thin scrawl on a piece of paper. 4 Privet Drive.

So this was it. This was where the legendary Harry Potter lived. Who knew it was just an ordinary house on the street. He knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds. No one answered the door.

Fazed, he hesitantly brought his hand up again and knocked once more. Silence followed his knocks. The sky was beginning to darken considerably and Lupin guessed the time to be around five. Normally, a family would be home to prepare dinner at this time, not out. He ran a series of scenarios why the Dursley family would be out. Celebrating Harry's birthday, out for dinner, on a vacation, all these were convincing. He turned to walk away, nonetheless disappointed that his chance to meet with Harry Potter was wasted.

A familiar tinge in his wand hand stopped him before he turned to walk back down the streets. He knew it was illegal, Muggle World or Wizarding World alike, yet the sense of the Marauders twenty years ago sparked something he thought died a long time ago inside him. He turned back to the door, hand hovering over the long wand hidden in his pocket.

"Alohomora," he whispered. The lock clicked open by itself. He gently pushed open the door.

 _Funny, the lights are still on_ , he mused. The silence was the most puzzling aspect. _Something's off._

He closed the door behind him and proceeded to the living room, wand held aloft. The lights were still on throughout the house. Something similar to a foot stuck out from behind the sofas and as Lupin drew near, he realized it was the body of the younger Dursley. Panic filled him but he managed to not show it. Instead, he bent over to check the body. He was still breathing but appeared to be knocked out by…

 _a Memory Charm._

He turned and ran upstairs. Whoever casted this spell might still be in this house. He placed a charm on his feet so that his footsteps are silenced and went up the stairs two by two. Just as he got to the second floor, he heard a voice talking. He paused, unable to make out the words. The voice seems to be coming from the room down the hall, the smallest room probably; after all it is at the corner. Harry's room.

Lupin tightened his grip on his wand and crept forward. The voices were getting louder, he could make out a few of the words now. Something like, _safe… my father… friend…_

He launched himself at the open doorway, wand raised.

"Expelliarmus!"

The other man's wand flew out of his hand and disappeared somewhere behind the bed. With a complacent expression pasted on his face, he slowly raised his hands.

"Move away from him," Lupin gestured. The man raised a prominent eyebrow but did as he was told. Now getting a proper look at him, he realized how young the man was and how aristocratic his features were. The face wasn't exactly handsome but not unattractive either. The features reminded him of someone that he couldn't quite put a finger to. Unlike most wizards, he was wearing a muggle suit, the dark jacket matching his equally dark curls that framed his face and high cheekbones. Pale blue eyes followed him, as if amused on what he's going to do next.

A movement caught his attention and he turned to face a pair of green eyes that reminded him so much of a long dead friend.

"Harry," he whispered. The boy, barely a few feet all, flinched at his name. Lupin's voice hardened. "Harry, get away from the man now. I'm your father's friend, I'm here to protect you."

Harry glanced from the tall man in a suit back to him. Deciding that he's had enough, he took several steps back till he was pushed against the wall, away from both men.

"He won't believe you," the man suddenly said. "Not with you barging in like that." Lupin glared at the man who still had his hands carelessly raised. A coyly smile ghosted his lips. "I'm impressed with the silencing charm on your feet. However, I would've done it much earlier,"

Lupin turned back to him, wand still raised. "Who are you?" He asked, ignoring his previous words.

"My… I thought you would recognize me." The man smirked; it matched his features perfectly and sent a memory sparking in Lupin's mind. "However, I have changed a lot. Sirius says I should spend less time with Muggles. I guess he's right."

Again, the familiar haughty look.

"The name is Sherlock Holmes," he introduced himself. "But you may also know me as Regulus Black."

 **Please review and let me know whether I should continue or not~ thanks. I also need a beta who knows a lot about the Harry Potter universe! Even if I've read the series twice, its been a long time and I'm not sure with all the facts I know so it would be great to have one~**


	2. A Strange Theory & Potential Flatmates?

_"The name is Sherlock Holmes," he introduced himself. "But you may also know me as Regulus Black."_

There was a moment of complete silence filled with raised eyebrows from the younger man and an air of hesitation surrounding the other. Finally, one of them spoke.

"Regulus Black? As in, Sirius Black's younger brother?"

Sherlock, or Regulus, rolled his eyes. "How dull, I thought I had made it clear."

"I… but, you died." Lupins said, trying not to sound hollow.

"Who said I died?"

Lupin was lost for words.

"I was only assumed by the general public that I have died in the hands of Voldermort, however, the evidence of my death is not found. Only factors that might lead to my death; not my complete demise."

A dozen thoughts ran through Lupin's head but the first that came to his mind was about his best friend. He rarely talks about his younger brother these days and sometimes Lupin wondered if he truly missed him or not. "Does Sirius know?"

Sherlock fell silent. "No,"

Lupin felt a sudden rush of anger for the pain this man has caused his friend over the years.

"You may call me a coward but I have my reasons. I will explain it to you later, for now the Dursleys should be waking up. We have to apparate, I casted a false memory charm over them so they will think the police has come to take Harry Potter away for a mentality check. I have reckoned Harry has performed a few… magic tricks in this household." Sherlock glanced at the boy still pressed to the wall. "Took me a while to craft the charm, the police response is unknown of when Harry will return. I daresay the Dursley household will be quiet happy of this change, one less mouth to feed, and we, on the other hand, will take Harry to my flat near central London. Harry, get your things, we're leaving."

Sherlock grinned his Chesire smile at his perfect plan. He stopped when he caught Lupin's eyes.

"You're afraid I might lose him while apparating." He said, with a pointed eyebrow.

"Most people, especially young kids under six, cannot stand the process of apparition, so I suggest traveling via the Floo Network." Lupins said. "Also, Harry is currently not licensed to apparate, as you do know the rules of the Wizarding World."

Sherlock put on a stupefied face to mock him. "Ah, right, the rules of the Wizarding World. I'm dead in the Wizarding World so rules don't apply to me."

Lupin sighed. "Come on Harry." Harry remained where he was.

"Harry, he's one of us, you can trust him," Sherlock offered. "Explanations later, we have to get out of here quickly before the Dursleys wake up. I'll have to recreate the Memory Charm again and that will not be brief."

Harry followed silently behind without a word. Sherlock volunteered to carry Harry's suitcase while Lupin got out some floo powder. In minutes, they floo to a small apartment in Central London.

"You own this place?"

"Rented. It's impossible to get a flat in London these days." Sherlock dropped Harry's suitcase and threw his discarded suit-jacket at a nearby reclining chair. "Harry, please help yourself. Bathroom is down the hall and a spare room at the end." He pointed at the direction he was referring.

Harry nodded a word of thanks and quickly hurried down the hall, suitcase thumping by his side.

The two adults watched him go before Sherlock swept into the kitchen, clearing out beakers and preparing to start a new experiment.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I would like to test my new hypothesis on the bruising of th-"

"No, I mean, why are you helping Harry? Taking him to a new home, creating that Memory charm, you've planned this."

Sherlock stopped then looked up at the older wizard standing near him. "Because," he said slowly with a half-smile. "Voldermort is still alive."

Lupin couldn't help but instinctively reach for his wand. "Voldermort died. It was in the news," Lupin defended. "He was no longer to be found, it has been six years since the first sighting."

"Oh?" Sherlock stood up and stared at him, head cocked to one side. "Then why does _this,_ still burn?"

He pushed back his left sleeve and turned the inside of his forearm to him. Engraved on the skin was a black snake coming out of a skull's mouth. "You haven't seen what I saw." He said. "One killing curse cannot kill the Dark Lord, not anymore. I know you've have a wide understanding of the Dark Arts. Now does the word, horcrux, ring any bells?"

Lupin's blood ran cold. "Of course. It's the splitting of the soul."

Sherlock smirked. "Good. Smarter than I reckon you for." He covered the tattoo and walked over to the fridge, looking for something.

Lupin bristled at the man's rudeness. "Then what's this have to do with Harry?"

Sherlock didn't even look up from his rummaging at that question. "Mr. Lupin, I do believe this may be a bit far-fetched however I _am_ mostly right," he drawled. "But I deduce that Harry is one of the many horcruxes Voldermort has used to split his soul. Tea?"

If Lupin was drinking something, he would most definitely spit it at the younger man's face. Too bad Sherlock hadn't offered tea earlier.

"Harry Potter, a _horcrux_?!"

"Dear God, how bad is your hearing? I reckon even the Little Harry could hear me down the hall."

Lupin shook his head. "Are you listening to yourself, Regulus?" The younger man flinched at his real name. "All of the sudden you show up, not dead, and claiming that Harry Potter is a horcrux? It takes a while for a man to understand your ramblings-"

"These are not ramblings!" Sherlock brushed past the table and stopped in front of Lupin, inches from his face. "I know, what's going on. Voldermort has split his souls, more than once, twice, perhaps even more than five." He whispered. "One is the locket," he paused at that word, "one is his snake, and the other is Harry Potter."

He lowered his voice even more. "It happened as an accident; years of experimentation, murder, and deliberately ripping apart his soul into _so_ many horcruxes it had rendered the remainder of his soul unstable. When his body was destroyed, a small shard of his soul broke apart from the rest and latched unto the only other living being in what remained of the room: Harry Potter himself." He glanced down the hall and Lupin was surprised to see a manic grin plastered on the young wizard's face. "What remained of Voldemort's soul must have escaped from the ruins of the house that same night, which proves of his current existence.

I'll have to test whether my hypothesis is true. If soul shard has truly latched onto Harry's own soul, it should grant him some of the Dark Lord's own powers or perhaps a latent connection to Voldemort's own mind."

"But the only way to kill Voldermort is to destroy all the horcruxes." Lupin said slowly.

Sherlock's face remained devoid of any emotions. "We'll see." He turned away to continue on his experiment. Lupin stood off at the side, digesting all that has happened in the mere one hour.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Sherlock inclined his head towards him. "It would be…. better," his face went through a series of emotions too fast for Lupin to catch, "to have someone on my side with the knowledge of the Wizarding World." He said, choosing his words carefully. "I didn't except you to come, today. However all was too late to change anything. If I apparate, you will hear me and that will cause the entire Wizarding World on a frantic chase to find who has abducted the Boy Who Lived. An event I would rather not go through." He explained quickly as if he was trying to cover up something.

His pocket dinged and Lupin watched in silence as the younger man pulled out a thin piece of metal with a glowing screen. He squinted at the screen before bursting into a flurry action. "Ah, Lestrade texted. Sorry, gotta dash," Sherlock threw his coat on himself. "I play the violin when I'm thinking and sometimes I won't talk for days on end. Would that bother you?"

Lupin frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"Potential flatmates should know the worst about each other." Sherlock smirked. "As I said, it's impossible to get a flat in central London and the rent is close to impossible to pay all by myself. You have the money, I presume?"

He didn't wait for Lupin to answer. "I suggest you start packing. Don't worry about the neighbors, I have set enough wards around the flat to keep people from coming. Mrs. Hudson, our landlady downstairs is a squib. She has a small basement downstairs you could use during the full moon." He smiles at Lupin's reaction.

"Oh, and do take care of Harry Potter for me please." He said. And with one swift motion, he slams the door shut.

 **This will be taken place in 2006 to clear the confusion. Harry Potter will be born on 1998 so just add 20 years to everything in the Harry Potter world. Sirius Black is caught in 2001. 2009 is where Harry will go to Hogwarts.**


End file.
